quilt

[kwilt]

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noun

a coverlet for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance, as wool or down, between them and stitched in patterns or tufted through all thicknesses in order to prevent the filling from shifting.

anything quilted or resembling a quilt.

a bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one.

Obsolete. a mattress.

verb (used with object)

to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.

to sew up between pieces of material.

to pad or line with material.

verb (used without object)

to make quilts or quilted work.

Origin of quilt

1250–1300; Middle English quilte < Old French cuilte < Latin culcita mattress, cushion

Related formsquilt·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for quilt

comforter, bedspread, blanket, patchwork, cover, down, pad, puff, coverlet, counterpane, duvet, eiderdown, pouf, batt

Examples from the Web for quilt

Contemporary Examples of quilt

One quilt expert weighed his opinions about the installation.
Infinite Variety: The Quilt Show's Catch-22
Lizzie Crocker
March 29, 2011
When my mother threatened to give away my baby clothes, I cut them up and made my sister a quilt for her birthday.
How to Write a Winning Ivy League Essay
Kathleen Kingsbury
October 25, 2009
With this flurry of sewing and stuffing, perhaps the 2012 candidates will now know to pursue the quilt vote.
Quilts for Obama
Meg Cox
May 16, 2009

Historical Examples of quilt

Pinckney didn't punch the mattress or turn up his nose at the quilt patterns.
Shorty McCabe
Sewell Ford
"Give her another blanket or quilt, then," said her husband.
The Carpenter's Daughter
Anna Bartlett Warner
Quilt and cushions were pushed into a corner for later airing.
The Dragon Painter
Mary McNeil Fenollosa
She put the orphan at the foot of the bunk, drew the quilt over it and set to work.
The Wrong Woman
Charles D. Stewart
She opened the lid of her chest and brought out a quilt, then another, and another.
Patchwork
Anna Balmer Myers

British Dictionary definitions for quilt

quilt

noun

a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams

a bedspread or counterpane

anything quilted or resembling a quilt

verb (tr)

to stitch together (two pieces of fabric) with (a thick padding or lining) between themto quilt cotton and wool

to create (a garment, covering, etc) in this way

to pad with material

Australian informal to strike; clout

Derived Formsquilter, noun

Word Origin for quilt

C13: from Old French coilte mattress, from Latin culcita stuffed item of bedding

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quilt

c.1300, "mattress with soft lining," from Anglo-French quilte, Old French cuilte, coute "quilt, mattress" (12c.), from Latin culcita "mattress, bolster," of unknown origin. Sense of "thick outer bed covering" is first recorded 1590s.

1550s, from quilt (n.). Related: Quilted; quilting. Quilting bee attested from 1824 (see bee).